May 28, 2025 • 48 mins
Have you ever been a bit nervous about approaching a Broker or a Brokerage as a whole to introduce yourself and your real estate business? Have you tried before and gotten little to no response? Does it seem impossible to get that "big break" How long exactly DOES it take to develop a good relationship with a Real Estate Brokerage? These are all questions we've all dealt with. We invite you to listen in to grab some tips and tricks we've learned over the years on how to build those Broker relationships and deals.
Chapter Timestamps:
0:00 Episode Open
04:16 Topic Introduction
04:40 Spiro Updates
07:40 Marketing Spiro to your Clients
11:37 Approaching Brokerages
45:17 Episode Wrap-up
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Coming up on this episodeof The Spiro podcast.
(00:04):
Your mindset as a business owner
is the singlemost thing that you can improve
that is going toget you where you want to go.
Let me say that one more time.
Your mindset and education of that mindset
is the single most important thing to you.
Reaching your goals as a business owner.
(00:37):
Hi and welcome to the Spiro Podcast,managing your real estate, photography
and videography business.
Spiro is a, it's a software platform.
It is designed to really help you manageyour day to day real estate media business
and ultimately help it grow and scaleif that's your goal.
Welcome back.
We had a week off here in the last week,and, just glad to be back at it.
(01:00):
My name is Craig Magrum,host of the podcast.
And each and every week with us,
of course, Spiro, owner and founderand co-host of the podcast, Todd Kivimaki
Welcome back, Todd.
Craig, it is great to be back.
I am energized, the sun is shiningand man, finally ready to go.
Yes, Ohio was just ain a bit of a mood for a while.
(01:20):
No joke.
I you know, I was going to startbuilding a ship out back just in case.
Yeah, it wouldn't have been a bad idea.
My backyard. Literally. It is a swamp.
It holds water horribly.
So anyway, lots of rain here.
But yeah, sunshine today at least.
And we're happy for that.
And, glad to have you guys along.
(01:41):
So, Todd, we we had a week off.
You had some vacation time.
I was getting my nerd on at, the DaytonHamvention, last.
Oh, the Mecca, oh Craig, of.
Okay, so.
Yeah. Fill us in here. What?
I, I mean, I, I did not see the signal.
I was in Florida, and I looked upand maybe it traveled that far.
(02:01):
Maybe I didn't know to look for it,but what what conspired?
What can just a lot of nerdiness,a bunch of amateur radio operators
from all over the world.
Probably 30,000plus people there, in Xenia,
Ohio, used to be in Dayton, but,yeah, just lots of fun nerd stuff.
It's my yearly Mecca.
they've exiled you to Xenia.
(02:23):
See you there. All right.
Well, it used to be.
It used to be held in the Hera Arenain Dayton, Ohio.
Actually, yes, it was Trotwood, butthat place was literally falling apart.
Got hit by a tornado at least twice,I think.
And it just they literally demolished.
It's just a big empty lot now.
So they had to find a new place for it.
(02:44):
It's now the county fairgrounds,you know, in Xenia, Ohio.
Nice. nice.
Real quick.
Those of you on listening can't see this,but here was my my my large purchase.
You know that where you go,you might see that. Oh.
Do you have any idea what that is? Todd?
That is a
(03:05):
oh, it's Morse code.
It is.
Oh, my goodness, that is called, thoughthose are called iambic paddles.
It's a double paddle key for.
Yeah, for Morse code.
Wow. The new version is kind oflike the new Samsung or the new iPhone.
That's the new I wouldn't call those new.
That's those aren’t new.
I mean, it's new to me.
(03:26):
It's a new unit.
But yeah.
Anyway, okay, let's get back to it.
That was my nerd.
My nerd moment for the day.
Thank you for indulging.
If any of you are amateur radio operators,
I would love to work you on the airsomeday.
Yeah, okay.
We had we had a couple people.
Last time you announced that they met,we did. So.
Yeah. We did. Yeah.
Emails your batsignal and Craig will get a hold of you.
(03:48):
I will send me your callsign.
Well, well.
That's good. I'm sorry. Your call sign.
Here's the lingo.
We'll get a Q, so. Okay.
Those of you listening blank like blanklook on his face.
Wow. Okay. You know you know you do.
Well, let's get into the podcast
I got to get this this trail of this trainback on the rails.
(04:12):
Nobody's listening right now.
Okay, let's bring them back
Okay, so our topicthis week, actually a listener generated
question and, something we've talked aboutand it's been quite a while.
So I'm excited to answer this.
sent in a questionabout how to approach
brokerages and, gain some traction.
(04:32):
So the great topic,
And we're looking forwardto, to answering that.
But before we do, Todd, let's dive intowe just had a major,
major new, release and drop for Spiro.
Tell us a little bit about that.And then also what's coming up.
Yeah, we sure did. So some things.
So you all should have receivedan email from me with those updates.
(04:52):
Just want to give you the highlightsso that,
you know,when I'm putting this in your brain.
So more or lessyou can let your clients know
these are great thingsto pack into your newsletter coming up.
Y'all ask us a lot of time.
Like, hey,do you consistently do a newsletter?
Yes we do.
We have for many yearsand we see value in doing that.
So the first big thing isyou all have received
(05:14):
a beautiful refreshto the marketing content.
It's a complete revamp.
The old is gone and the new is inand it has
all of the goodies that you wantand have asked for.
So the biggest one is video reels.
That is in there, that is included.
There's four nice templatesfor us to begin with.
(05:34):
It's in there, and your clients can takethe beautiful listing photos
that you've createdand turn those into an MP4 reel
to have a sizzle and captureattention online.
The biggest thingand let your clients know this is that
the algorithm wants video.
So if they post video to a social channeljust naturally
(05:57):
and organically,that post is going to get more views.
Because social knows that viewers interactwith video more.
Thus it shows and to them moreso that they in
turn can make more money off of them.But it works.
So if you tell your clients
that sell the value,give them, become the expert.
That's a way to insert yourselfto be more sticky with your clients.
(06:20):
Now, the second thing that your clientsreceive as well.
And this is agent facing our propertyanalytics pages.
So we've created a beautiful pageto show the number of views for photos,
referral links, number of clicks
on the property websitesand that is available live in your system.
Also, your agents.
Or you can create a reoccurring weeklyemail that goes out to the homeowners
(06:45):
that tells them and gives themthe report, shows them the updates.
So those are cool.
Yeah, those are two great agent cells.
It's a great time to put it out to youragents to show how you bring more value,
and how they can benefit their clients
from the content inside of your system.
(07:05):
That's excellent,because anything an agent can do
to make differentiate themselvesfrom another realtor,
maybe they're in a competitive situationthat's that goes to build their business
and their brand.
So this is a great tool
for you to also differentiate yourselffrom other photographers
that maybe aren't positioning themselvesas marketing consultants.
(07:25):
You are.
It's all abouthelping them build their brand.
Yeah.
And Craig,one important thing you said there is that
it's a way that you,
the way that you market them the content.
So it's a little bit different.
The fact you might say, well,
competitors around me, they use Spiroand they have the same thing.
And I hear this from, from many of youand like, hey, my, I used to have
(07:49):
I started using Spiro three years agoand it was different for me.
And now my competitors have it.
Well, the thing is, is do your competitorsactually market it?
Do they tell what's the communication?
We're going to talk aboutcommunicating to a broker.
And we all can try to do it.
Why are we successful?
Wow. And why have we done it for 20 years?
(08:09):
What'sbecause we know how to communicate it.
We're consistent with it.
So we're going to help youwith those things.
But the big thing is, is don't say,hey, I'm
I'm not going to send out the newsletterbecause all my competitors use it.
No, that is even more of a reason.
You just market it better, right?
And let your agents knowing yoube the source of the knowledge.
And that keeps your client sticky to you.
(08:33):
Yeah, yeah.
If you can provide educationto your clients on how
to get the most out of the delivery systemthat you're giving them,
that's just going to
cement you intheir brains is a real value.
Add an asset to their team,
and that's the way you want themto see you as part of their team.
Not a contractor, not a photographer.
(08:55):
You are part of their marketing team
and helping them build their individualreal estate business.
That's that's the approach I try and take.
And and it's it's paid off, you know.
So anyway, yeah good stuff.
Great updates to those.Those are super exciting. Yeah.
Go ahead.
One more I wanted to mentionjust on a very quickly because it's, it's
and there was more updates.
There was nine of themthat went out in the email.
(09:17):
The other onethat many of you asked for is, hey,
can you notify my editorswhen the files are uploaded?
Not when I complete the job in the portal.
And you now have that option.
So just want to mention it because I
many of you wanted thatand we want to give it to you.
And it's in there.
Perfect.
Sounds good. All right. Huge release.
We were really excited to let this one outinto the, into the wild here.
(09:41):
What's what's, what's coming up?
For the next, the next release. Todd.
Yeah, so we
have some exciting thingscoming up for the next release.
We have well, I guess you asked.
I was I was just going to give aso some things with release.
I mean, we're we're about 6 to 8 weeksaway from the next release,
but I'll give you a little bit.You guys are all great, too.
(10:03):
So let me give you a little insightas to what we're doing.
We are working on first off,a new property website.
It's designed, it's done.
We are coding it in the background.
So it's a beautiful design.
It's going to give you some newfunctionality on the property website.
Not going to tell you what that is yetbut some new functionality on there.
AgainI'm trying to beef up your newsletter.
I'm trying to beef up your featuresand benefits that you give to agents.
(10:27):
These are all things,
and every age is looking for somethinga little bit different.
A lot of them have property websites,but for those that don't,
they're going to love this new design.
So that's whatwe're always thinking about with updates.
I'll give you one more, Craig,and then we'll,
we'll save the rest for a future update.
But and this is a biggieand we're excited about it.
(10:47):
And many of you have asked for it,
but we're going to give youthose admin options on the order page.
And you've asked for so many of you say,hey, when I place an order,
I just want to override the priceon the order page.
I just want to override the dateand time on the order page.
You can do thatnow. It's a two step process.
(11:07):
I know I value your guys's time.
I know how important it isto really focus on your time.
This will minimizethe time needed to do a couple
different actionswill compile compiled on the one.
So those admin overridesfor the order page.
Those will be coming as well.Okay, perfect.
Good stuff.
And just a little bit of a teaser.
Keep you coming back, right?
(11:28):
Yeah. A twist in my arm, Craig.
There you go. There you go.
All righty.
Well, thank you for those updates.
Todd. Exciting stuff.
And, we're just going to dive into thisweek's topic,
approaching brokerages,which can always be a challenge,
especially if you're somewhat introvertedor you're just nervous about getting out
(11:48):
there and showing up at, the frontdesk of a brokerage office or or whatever.
But, wrote in, and Todd, you wantyou want to introduce this one,
So asked me, on on Facebook,he said,
wherever the market slows down,I wonder how you reach out to brokerages.
I tried reaching out a fewand the response is not great.
(12:11):
I'm workinghard on my content to make sure
my content stands out,and I also get many referrals.
So he wanted to know a as to the approach
he can take to get to the broker deals.
Now we talk about broker deals a lot.
In fact, when we launched this podcastyears ago, the first thing we talked about
(12:33):
and I probably it's probably thethe number one talk that I do
and it's it's actually maybe a little bitdeceiving that I talk about it so much.
And I want to explain thatbecause it's, it's not that
it's not possible,but it's the big it's the whale.
Okay.
So I've been I've been listeninga lot to Alex Hormozi lately.
(12:53):
And he talks.
He has this Minoan whaleand he uses this this terminology.
And any time you try to get a whale,it's just going to take time.
Looking back over the course of Wow,
some of the broker dealsthat we have took years,
(13:14):
years and years to get.
Okay.
And we have a strategic waythat we work broker deals.
And I'm happyto share that with you today.
But I wanted to make surethat I communicate to you that this is not
something that you're going to time blockfor a month, and you're going to get one.
Now. It can happen, and it does happen.
(13:35):
There's a couple that fell into my lap.
There's a couple that I signedbecause I signed a competitor,
and I leveraged the competitor offof the first broker deal.
So we'll go into all of that.
But I at least want you to understand
that if you're saying, hey, Todd,I've been trying this for 90 days.
I've been trying this for 365 days.
(13:56):
That's okay. That's this.
This is a slow burn,and it's a big payoff.
I think our longest is actuallyfour years, Craig.
Literally four years with a company.
And it took a lot of timeand it was a very big deal.
So I just wanted to start thereto give you guys a perspective.
I'm always trying to
(14:16):
give you guys that perspective,because I think there's so much pressure
out there in the world
and if you look at us with Wow,you might go, how do you do 13,000 a year?
Well, I did 13 a thousand a yearbecause it's been 21 years.
And honestly, I'm
a little bit of an underachieverbecause it took me 21 years to get to 13.
Why am I not doing 30,000?
Okay, so it's all perspective.
(14:37):
You know, Craig,we had Simon on a few weeks ago and he
he gave a book titled The Gap.
And the gain,I believe, is what it's called.
And so I download I was like,that's very interesting.
And the author goes to talk about the ideaof, do you live in the gap
or do you live in the gain?
And without going into the whole bookand I just got through
like two thirds of the book,but the idea is
(15:00):
living in the gap is you saying,I don't have a broker deal.
Okay, so where you're at today versuswhere you want
to go, that portion is the gap.
The thing that you're forgettingwhat our brains do
is the portion below thatwhere you started versus where you are
today, that is what the author refersto as what you have gained.
(15:23):
You have gained that,
and you've all gained something.
Okay.
But what our brains don't like to do is
our brains don't like to wait,and our brains don't like to remember that
we want instant gratificationand we always want to move the goalpost.
That's super unhealthy to do.
I since reading this book,
I have been trying to apply thatin every part of my life.
(15:45):
Any time I'm unhappy, I go, Todd,why are you unhappy?
What is so bad about your life so well?
and it for me, you know, like, okay,let me use an example.
Outside the industry, I'm a dad. Craig.
You're a dad,I coached basketball. You guys know this?
I spend a lot of time coaching basketball.
(16:07):
I'm at the very end ofAAU season, which the season begins
with middle school basketball.
I coach middle school basketball.
And then it goes into middle schools,you know,
practices trials the season all along.
The same time I'm coaching youthbasketball, two more teams.
So I have I arrange the league.I do all that coaching.
And then I go into once middleschool is done, I have you season.
(16:29):
That all goes a little bit longer
and then once I'm out of youth season,I do school tournament teams
and then once I'm out of school tournamentteams, I do AAU basketball.
So I'm at the very end of basketball
and quite frankly,I'm ready to be done with basketball.
But I'm going, wait a minute, Todd,why do you have this thinking?
(16:49):
Okay, my oldest is 12, almost 13.
And Craig, we're startingto see that transition to a teenager.
You know what I'm talking about.
Or it's like,wait a minute, this is my shot, little.
Yeah. I'll be in prayer for you. Yes.
Thank you, Craig. Thank you.
So. Yes, it's.
(17:10):
And that's what we're saying.
I have the sweetest 12 year old right now.
And he is eloquentand speaking and he's caring.
But there are some thingsit says where it's like.
Like I think his mom's gonna reach acrossand just slapping
things and, I'm like, just do it.
Just go like it would really shocking.
But there's some.
But my point is like,there's some things. It's like,
wait a minute, that wasn't a sweetlittle five year old we used to have.
(17:32):
And overall he's a great kid.
I loving the mom, all my kids.
But my point is, is I am.
There's going to be a point in my lifewhere I would die to go back to
getting our butt kicked,getting our butts kicked at AAU
basketball in May of 2025.
so when we're going through thatand I'm frustrated
(17:55):
and he's frustrated and we're growingand we're losing basketball games,
I don't like to lose y'all.
I'm a pretty competitive person.
Now I go, what?
Yeah, me Craig right. Oh.
I am saying to myself, Todd,why are you living in the gap,
the gap of winning these games,the gap of being done.
The gap of having free time?
(18:16):
No, you don't want that living the gain.
Look at howfar he's gotten with basketball.
Look at how far I've gotten with coaching.
I used to be a terrible coach.
When you start, you can't just, like,try to figure some things out.
So I am trying to live in the gamein every uncomfortable portion
that I exist inand just real quickly here.
And then we're goingto get to the podcast.
(18:36):
But I think this is so importantbecause your mindset as a business owner
is the singlemost thing that you can improve
that is going toget you where you want to go.
Let me say that one more time.
Your mindset and education of that mindset
is the single most important thing to you.
Reaching your goals as a business owner.
(19:00):
And if you can begin to live in the gainand not the gap,
that's going to put you in a spotwhere you need to go.
Craig I'm in James right nowand this will take give me 30s you all.
But in James he talks about suffering
and finding joy through suffering.
And I'm like, James,you are one crazy man.
(19:20):
Like, let me sit here in pain.
But it's so true.
And the people that he wrote toin that day, they were suffering
and nothing like what I feel like
I'm suffering now in 2025, in America.
But there is joy, and joy producesperseverance
that then turns into knowledgeand us understanding.
(19:41):
And I think that is so true.
And if you're not spiritual, if you don'tbelieve in God, there is many.
This is trueno matter what you think that through pain
you are going to learn.
Okay, I believe Les Brown said.
If in life, if you do what is easy,
life will be hard.
(20:04):
And then he said, alternatively,
if you do what is hard in life,it becomes easy.
Life becomes easy.
So I just want to leave youwith those thoughts.
If what you're doing is hard right now,you are growing, you are learning,
and you are paving the way for lifeto become easy.
(20:26):
Can I add one thing to that, please?
The mindset thing is justwhat has been sticking out to me.
And I think back to that bookthat you mentioned a long time ago
on on the podcast.
Soundtracks by yes.
John Acuff. Yes.
So what I've discovered,
(20:47):
I mean, I've rediscovered thisevery time it happens is I can get in a,
in a bad pattern of thinkingwhere I'm just, I'm down on myself.
I, I lose motivation, or I'mdealing with anxiety, things like that.
And you get this, this cat.
What vicious cycle of thinking.
I don't want to say catch 22, but,it's just keeps spiraling.
(21:11):
And when it spirals, it'susually when you're by yourself.
So now, not only is the mindset important,but whether you are isolated
or in a group that can surround you,that can help break that cycle
and speak something differentinto your mindset,
I think that's as important,as critically important
(21:32):
as just realizingthat you need to change your mindset.
You've got to have a positive communityof people around you that will challenge
that cycle of thinkingthat you're stuck in and that that's that.
I mean, that's what I deal with, isI can get in a bad cycle of thinking,
but I find like, say, sayI'm having trouble with sales or I've lost
(21:53):
motivation to get out in an approachable,which is what Ramadi is, is.
Yeah.
Talking about I find like if I check inwith Chris, our sales manager,
it will help snap me out of that,because he will bring a perspective
that I'm not thinking about and not havingmy thoughts spiral, spiral or out.
(22:14):
So having Chris and Steve,who not only are my supervisors,
my managers, but also friends because
they just have a good wayof dealing with me,
as is an employee of Wow,where we can laugh about some stuff.
And yes, there's there's goalsand challenges and and accountability,
but they're friends as wellthat I trust them
(22:34):
to speak good things into my life,to keep me motivated.
Get me out of that cycle of thinking,because I'm I'm up here in in bowling
Green, Ohio, working out of my homeoffice, you know, managing my territory.
Yeah.
Chris is down in Columbus,you know, our home offices in Lima.
Steve is down there in Lima.
So I don't get to interactface to face with these guys.
And that can be isolating.
(22:54):
And you might as an owner, a lot of timesI think owners can be isolated
because for surethere's it's lonely at the top sometimes.
So if you can make a concerted effortto find a community of people,
and hopefully this podcast can be part ofthat for you to help you get out of that.
That vicious cycle of of thinkingthat maybe is holding
(23:15):
you backfrom what your goals are in your business.
I think you'll finda lot of value in that.
But you got to be purposefulin finding those people that will speak
life into your life.
Craig, thank you for sharing.
That couldn't be any more true.
And, that put that as your top priority
if you're struggling with that right now,if you don't have that, please put that.
(23:36):
Also, another thing is,
if you have some people in your lifethat sends you down the wrong path,
you need to get them out of your life,get them out today.
You just need to. Yeah,
yeah.
You got you got to set boundariesand choose who's
going to add value to your lifeand who's who's going to drain it.
Yeah. So it's thanks for sharing Craig.
Yeah yeah for sure.
(23:56):
Yeah.
All right.
So.
Craig going out for brokerages.
Yeah yeah brokerages.
So questionand many of your questions as well. So
Let me just take you through a timelineof how
I signedsome of the brokerage deals that we have.
Now, I got out of college,and I basically created
(24:17):
this idea of a brokerage dealbecause I wanted a guaranteed income.
And the way that I did it 20 years
ago is not the way that we do ittoday. So.
But the I, the ideaand the thinking is the same. So I
had been
photography, I had been shootingphotography, I did.
(24:39):
My my English is not English today.
I have been shooting I've been shooting
for a client, my hometown. Yeah.
Thank you.
Just it's a bumper stickerphotographing.
I might have to make a bumpersticker. Yes.
Hey. We're just.
(24:59):
If we can't find the right term,we're going to make up our own.
Darn it.
And you're going.
Hey, we have vidtographers, right?
Yeah. Vidtographers.
Yeah, yeah, that's what we do in Ohio.
We just make up terms.
Ohio
anyway.
Okay, so I have been working withthe same client for a couple of years,
(25:20):
and a lot of the agents used meand I had built relationships with them.
They knew me.
I knew them,I was familiar with the broker.
Okay.
So she was she knew me because I was usingso many of so many of their agents
were using me to do videosthat just naturally, I got to know her.
And then, so first thing is,I built a relationship with them,
(25:43):
and I was I had their top agents.
So the keys to getting to a broker dealergoing to be building a relationship.
But honestly, building a relationship
with the topor the most influential agents,
and those are typically the same,but they're not always the same people.
Right?
(26:04):
There's been sometimes where we've walked into a meeting
and we've had the topagent at the company,
and the top agent gives us an endorsement
and nobody really turns a head.
And then you have the most influentialagent who's not the top agent.
Say something.
Everybody goes, oh, wait a minute,they're using you.
(26:24):
Okay, so that's the thing.
You have to make sure you knowwho holds the voice in the office.
The way that you do this isif you honestly just go to one office
meeting, you can get an idea ofwho is the most vocal.
Okay.
So in that environment, they're typicallythe people that speak the most,
you know, give the most suggestions,criticism and, you know,
(26:45):
whatever it may be, but they're the mostvocal in the office meeting.
So at for my first brokerage deal,
I had these people, you know,I had the most influential in the largest.
And I began to build a relationshipwith the broker.
So at that point, when I asked fora meeting with the broker, I received it.
(27:05):
Okay.
And now I think that's thethat's the hill, right?
Craig, to get over is a lot of us aresaying, hey, how do I get to the broker?
Okay, so that one just took timeand it's going to take time.
So if you don't have the most influentialor the largest, go get those,
find out who they are, give them an offerso good they can't say no to that.
(27:25):
You begin working with themand then they will get you to the broker.
If you say, hey, how?
How are you going to gethow are they going to get me the broker?
Just ask them if it's all right. Craig.
I mean, I've been direct.
I think back so many times
over the past 20 yearswhere I didn't ask anybody
because I was afraid to get my feelingshurt.
(27:48):
So, Craig, you and I,we don't like to get our feeling
we're both the same in that way.
Like we each of us don't like.I don't like my feelings hurt.
You don't like your feelings hurtlike I'd be like, oh, man.
Like I'd be a sad puppywhen I got rejected.
Yeah,I think though, the older I've gotten,
the morethe less I've been afraid to get the no.
Because I finally found somethingI enjoy doing.
(28:11):
I know the value in it,whether somebody sees the value or not.
And so yeah, I might get a noand that might be a good thing, you know,
it might be a problem
or challenging client that would takea lot of your time and energy.
So you just you love what you do, you knowthe value of what you're offering.
And you just be confident in that.
(28:33):
Therewas something I was going to say, Todd
and now I just totally blanked out,but it was piggybacking on something
you had just said. It'll come back to me.
One thing that you said that sometimes
you have to get through the no’sto get to the yeses.
Yeah, I know that's a very cliche salesterm, but let me break that down slightly.
If there is a gap between youand you getting that you now and you
(28:55):
getting the sale, getting the brokereddeal, you have to know what that gap is.
And if you don't get a no and don't askthen how you could have
earned the business, what you could dodifferently, what might work for them.
You have to ask questions.
I was on a coaching call, yesterday.
And an individual. I know him well.
(29:16):
He wouldn't mind that we mentioned himon the podcast, but Todd McKissick,
he said, hey, the more I listen to youand you and Eli
realizethat you guys ask a lot of questions
and I'm going to start doing that.
I'm going to build that into everythingI do.
And I did not do that for many yearsbecause I had an
ego and I believed I had all the answers.
(29:38):
It was a very stupid thingthat really restricted us
growing is thatI thought I had all the answers,
and then I became the sourcefor getting the answers.
And then nobody wanted to do anythingbecause they needed Todd's answer.
And I did not empower themto come up with their own answer.
I became the bottleneck.
Okay.
(29:59):
And if you find that youare the bottleneck or you're the source
of information,your company's only going to grow so big
before you get out of your own wayand you empower others.
So the idea of asking questionswith the brokers,
if you get with the broker or say,say you ask that influential question
and that influential agent,excuse me for a meeting
(30:22):
with the broker and say they say no.
Okay, so this is a learning opportunity.
I would say, hey, Mr. and Mrs.
Influential Agent,could you let me know what it would do to
what I could do to earn your trustthat you refer me to the broker
I have an idea that I think can benefityou and them,
and I just want to know howI can earn your trust for that referral.
(30:43):
I don't take that referral lightly.
What could I do to earn your trust?
Yeah,
I the thing I forgot thatI just came back.
It's it's a very simple concept.
It's from scripture,but it's universally applicable.
You have not because you ask that,
(31:05):
That's simple.
Yeah.
You don't ask. You'reyou're never going to get it.
And yeah, you might get the no,but you might get the yes.
And asking the questions, you know.
Yeah.
How can I earn your trust or what.
You know, Mr.
or Mrs.. Agent, let me ask you this.
(31:25):
What is your brokerage'sgoal in marketing?
You know what? What is it?What's the money?
What's something that you've been lookingfor in a vendor to help you with this,
that you have not found yet,
and maybe you don't offer whatever it isthat they give you the answer to,
but that will spur an idea for you tothen develop that idea or develop
(31:46):
that solution that you canthen come back and say, hey,
I you know, I've listened to what you hadto say about what your goal is,
and I've done some brainstorming
and I think I have some, some ideasthat I'd like to run past.
You run it past that realtor
and say, just, you know,is this something that might be of value?
Is this somethingwe can talk to the broker about?
(32:09):
Ask the
question, get get what it isthat they're looking for
that maybe you don't currently provide,but something that you could do.
Yeah.
That's such a great insight.
That's such great insight
there, Craig, as to how to get thereand just ask the question.
Yeah.
You know,I think one of the things in sales
and I screwed up on this as many timesI would go into these presentations
(32:33):
and you're always a little nervous, right?
You know, you're always a little nervous.
I still I meet with one of our clientsat Wow to just one,
and it's our largest client.
And it's a relationshipthat I've had for over a decade.
So I'm still the key personon this account,
and I it's one meeting a year,but every time I go in and meet with him,
I'm a bit nervous toI actually know him really well.
(32:57):
Like I have a friend relationshipwith him.
Like it's a friendly environment,but I'm nervous when I go in there.
Todd, can I ask why?Why are you nervous?
If you have the friend relationship
and you've had thatlong of a relationship, what?
What makes you nervous?If you don't mind sharing?
He's a very intelligent individual
and I use this sayingthat a coach gave to me is
(33:19):
even when the Lions out to play,
the lion can always bite your head off.
Yeah, I suppose that's true.
So I, you know, I,I go in prepared because I respect him
and I know that I'm going to look stupidif I don't go in prepared.
So so going it you're going innot taking that friendship for granted.
(33:42):
Yes. Is what's sticking out to me on that.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
Because I respect him,I respect his time, I respect what
he's done for us for the last 11 years.
And honestly Craig,he comes in in the same way.
Now he's not he's not nervous for it.
But he respects the relationship.
He referred us to a huge clientabout a year ago for a few months.
(34:05):
I would have never had this in my Rolodex,
and this is a person that he isvery familiar with.
It's another very large brokerin this in this company.
And I had earned that.
And I began to seethe fruits of that harvest.
You know, that's we're not on know
about referrals today, but that is a wayyou're going to get to to the broker.
(34:27):
But at some point when you plant your seedand you nurture it, the crop grows.
If you don't harvest the crop,the crop is going to die.
Okay.
So let me bring thatinto the terms of this relationship.
Now, the relationship won't dieif I don't ask
for a referral,but the thing is, is I am leaving.
(34:50):
I am wasting crop, if you will.
If I don't ask for the referral
again, the worst you could say is no.
So I think you have to ask.
I think you have to get into the habitof feeling that rejection.
It becomes easier.
Trust me,if Craig and I can do it, you can do it.
(35:10):
I'm the person that would dial the phonenumber and I would hang it up ten times.
I'd pace my office.
I would go throughwhat I was going to say.
I dial the number, hang it up again.
So you can do it.
That's the biggest thing.
Okay, Craig.
So to get back to let's break downsome of this question from
(35:31):
he says in his question.
can you give me an approach
or what are some approachesI can take to enter into a brokerage?
So what are some things that that you do,Craig, to get into those relationships?
Well, I mean, it's all based offwhat you already mentioned about having,
(35:51):
you know, as a client,the most influential or a top agent
at that brokerageand having a good relationship with them.
Every brokerage will have a weeklyor at the very least,
a monthly meeting of some sort, where offmost times they have a vendor
come in and give a presentation,and I ask that top agent
(36:12):
or influential agentif there was a way to come
and be a presenterat one of their meetings,
and if they're a fan of what it isthat you're doing for them, that they'll
99% of the time they'll say yes.
So when you're able tothen make that presentation, maybe you
you still haven't talked to the broker,
but you're a you're able to come inand make that presentation.
(36:35):
You start to show up on the radar.
It might again,it's just going to take time to build.
What's what's the word I'm looking for?
Rapport.
Rapport? Familiar?
I can never say that word.
They're getting.
Just make one up.
That's what we're going. Familiarity
(36:55):
And I think I used to be in broadcastradio.
Yeah.
Just getting people familiarwith you and leadership familiar with you,
where you can start to show your value.
And what separates you, what distinguishesyou from other people in the same space?
People buy from people they know.
So there's the, the rapport part.
(37:16):
They, they know they likeyou got to be personable.
I a lot of times, Todd,when I, when I give a presentation,
I don't start with informationabout the company.
I start information about myselfand my family
because my familyis really important to me.
So I've got a picture of myself,my wife and my two boys.
And you know how long I've been married?
(37:37):
How old my kids are.
That makes me human right off the bat.
Okay, we're humans first.
We all have, you know, familiesor loved ones or interests or hobbies.
Things that make us who we are. Right?
And and I list some of my hobbiesand I my background being radio.
I crack a joke about, hey,you know, if my voice cracks
(38:00):
or I get a little nervous, it'sbecause I spent 20 years working in radio,
talking into a microphonein an empty room to a blank wall.
So if you don't mind, I'm just goingto turn around this way and that's that.
That usually, you know,so just breaking the ice.
I'm not a naturally funny person.
I'm really not.
That's a good one, Craig. But.
(38:21):
Well, it's it's me.
You know, my background is my radio.
So I'm
trying to get them familiar with meand that.
Okay, I'm not a threat.
I'm not a slimy salesperson just here,you know, to try and sell you.
But I love what I do.
So rapport building,being you don't try and put on an air
that's not authentic to who you are.
(38:44):
So presentationsasking that influential or top agent
that is currently your client,if there's an opportunity to come present,
that builds rapport,that gets you familiar with the broker.
So there's one way,
So approach number two, a lot of timesbrokerages will have special events
that they, they do throughout the year,and they're looking for sponsors.
(39:07):
Now, Ibeing a fiscally conservative person,
other than when it comes to ham radio,which I seem to have an issue with,
Sounds like a confession,I don't like to spend money.
All right.
But I learnedwhen I got into this business,
you have to spend money to make money,right?
Yeah, it was a confesion.
(39:28):
I didn't I didn't tell Gail
how much I spent on the morse code key,but if she asks, I will tell her.
But she didn't ask anyway.
You know a long time ago.
They threw millions of those away, Craig.
When?
When they.
When they did away with that technology.
You know what's funny about that?
Old hamradios are literally called boat anchors
(39:51):
because they were big and heavy.
You might as well just chuck them up.
They're also the words anyway.
You got to spend money to make money.
Not in the amateur radio hobby.
It's just spending money. But,
sponsor an event, a brokerage event.
Be at those events.
Todd, I've got a brokerage up here
(40:12):
in Toledothat we are not the preferred vendor.
Okay,
the one of the three brokershas a personal friendship
with the preferred vendorthat is out of a different state.
But we do more business with themfrom what I can tell.
Based on what some of the agentsthat use us have have told me, we sponsor
(40:33):
their Cinco de Mayo event every year, eventhough we're not the preferred vendor.
And it's because we do a lot of business
with this company, even thoughwe're not the preferred vendor.
And because we support what they're tryingto do as a brokerage and raising funds
for the Children's Miracle Network, it'sa good, worthy cause.
It gets our logo and our name and showsthat we're still a part of this brokerage.
(40:54):
We're still
bringing value to this brokerage,even if we're not the preferred vendor.
And it allows me to have face time
at that fundraising event as welland continue to build those relationships.
And we've gotten referrals from agentsthat use us, and business has been built.
I'm kind of I'm goingto brag a little bit, if that's okay.
(41:14):
Todd, please.
We we did a higher level sponsorshipthan the preferred vendor did for this,
this event.
Our our packages that we gave tothe silent
auction was worth moreand was a larger donation.
We're going to do everything we can
to support that brokerageto show our value.
(41:35):
I show up consistently that that broker
that has the friendshipwith this other vendor.
She spoke with me, said, hey,thank you so much.
You know,we really appreciate your support.
And I know you bring a lot of valueto many of our, our realtors.
And it wasit was a great cordial conversation.
So even if you're notthe preferred vendor, you can still have
(41:55):
a major relationshipwith that broker and that brokerage
and, and
bring value to what they're doingand grow your business at the same time.
So I've got the broker knows me.
They know that we're working hardfor their agents and they respect that.
They they're appreciative of the factthat we sponsor their event.
(42:15):
So presentations, brokerage presentationsand sponsor
their events,you know, assuming it's in your budget.
Yeah. Those are great things.
That reminds me of of a phrase, ofof a coach that I work with.
I'm on a coaching call weekly with him,Austin Cheviron and I have a run down here.
He says if you want to earn more,
you need to be more valuable.
(42:39):
I if you want the referral,you need to be more valuable.
If you ask for the referral and you didand you don't get it,
you need to give more.
You tried to take pennies out of the jar,
and when you didn't put enoughpennies in.
And that's what a relationship is.
That's what business is about.
It's not aboutyou being the most professional.
(43:00):
One thing you saying here,and I'm gonna say this with love.
As you say, you're working onmaking your content stand out.
It's not about making your contentstand out.
You just need to put more penniesin the jar before you take pennies out.
And once you have enough in the jar,you can ask for it.
And you've earned that trust.
You've put in the time, you've givenmore value, and you will get it back out.
(43:22):
Another listener had,
messaged me and said, hey,I had this client
that I thought was a solid clientand they were not going to summarize us,
but they ended up using someone elsefor a major project,
and they were just kind of left flatfooted, like, what happened?
Why should I even bother to keep doingthis and try to build the relationship?
You know, people are people and sometimesthey're going to disappoint you.
(43:43):
And yeah, you might have put a lot of workinto the relationship.
I've had that happen where, you know,I thought I had a good, solid
relationship.
I follow up,I try to get the question as to the why.
What could I have done betterto keep your business?
You might get an answer, you might not.
And if you don't, well, it
people are peopleand we do let each other down.
(44:05):
We do disappoint each other now and then,
but you can't let that stop youfrom continuing to try.
And there are people that will valuethat relationship with you.
I've got agents that they have insidemarketing departments that they could use
and that their brokerageis pressuring them to use,
and they've told me straight to my face,I will never use our inside
marketing department.
You do what we need you to do.
(44:25):
We value the relationshipand we appreciate you and I.
I've got them.
I've got them for life. Now,I don't get cocky about that.
I don't take that for granted.I have to every day.
I have to continue to earn that trustand earn that loyalty
that they have to us as their vendor.
So don't give up.
Even if somebody kind of burnsyou don't don't let that sour you guys.
(44:49):
Yeah.
And the toughest thing about it is
I would advocate that you continueto give to them.
it's going to be the hardestthing is you see that
they use a competitorand you thought you had that relationship.
Just keep giving to that client.
it will come back.
It's taking the high road,you know, and the professional road.
(45:12):
So excellent.
Well, Todd I think that kind of covers it.
I, I'm not sure what else to say.
It does time.
It takes time to build relationshipsagain.
You get me 21 years in the businessand we have,
you know, a ton of brokerage dealsin these relationships.
But it took a long time.
(45:32):
The build these relationships andthe space is much more competitive too.
So it takes even longer to build a betterrelationship with someone you know.
I've got the relationshipwith this individual for 11 years.
Could someone build a better relationship?
Yes, they could.
It's going to take a little whileand I'm actively building it too.
You just need to continue to build plantto plant the seeds.
(45:55):
I love this harvest analogy.
You have to plant the seedsand you have to nurture them before you
can take the harvest.
There you go.
Good insight.
Thank you for the question.
I was an excellent question.
And that really gets to the gistof what this podcast is all about
is building a strong business.
So yeah, the creativityobviously important, but
(46:17):
that's ultimately notwhat's going to really
I mean, yes, you have to have a good solidcreative product and service,
but it's the sound businessprinciples and relationship
building that you're working onthat will help grow your business.
And that's what we want to help yousucceed in.
So guys, thank you for listening.
Todd,any closing thoughts or anything from you
(46:37):
now just keep buildthose relationships and get excited.
Good people.We covered so much of that. Craig.
Put good people around
you, people that are excited, peoplethat build you up and then go and do it.
It makes it a lot easier to
to get through those no'sand to build those relationships.
Yeah for sure.
All right.
Well guys, thank you so much. Ladies.
Gentlemen I don't want to just say, guys,ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much.
(46:58):
We appreciate the time you take, tolisten or,
you know, or watch this podcastif you found some value in it.
We'd love to, like,maybe share it with others
in the communitybecause we want to see you guys when
and, if you have any comments, pleaseleave a comment on the YouTube channel.
Or if you do have questions.
We haven't said that in a while.
If you have a business related question,that we could cover on the podcast,
(47:20):
we're we're open to your ideas andwould love to cover that, because, again,
we want to bring value to you and helpyou build your strong business.
All right.
That's going to wrap it up for the week.Thank you so much.
Make sure you take some timeto breathe this week.
I mean stay in thewhat is it like the gap or the the gain.
The gain.
Make sure yes.
You take some time to breathe,but stay in the gain
(47:42):
and be thankfulfor the blessings in your life.
Make sure you takea breath. Have a great week!
Coming up on this episodeof The Spiro podcast.
(00:04):
Your mindset as a business owner
is the singlemost thing that you can improve
that is going toget you where you want to go.
Let me say that one more time.
Your mindset and education of that mindset
is the single most important thing to you.
Reaching your goals as a business owner.
(00:37):
Hi and welcome to the Spiro Podcast,managing your real estate, photography
and videography business.
Spiro is a, it's a software platform.
It is designed to really help you manageyour day to day real estate media business
and ultimately help it grow and scaleif that's your goal.
Welcome back.
We had a week off here in the last week,and, just glad to be back at it.
(01:00):
My name is Craig Magrum,host of the podcast.
And each and every week with us,
of course, Spiro, owner and founderand co-host of the podcast, Todd Kivimaki
Welcome back, Todd.
Craig, it is great to be back.
I am energized, the sun is shiningand man, finally ready to go.
Yes, Ohio was just ain a bit of a mood for a while.
(01:20):
No joke.
I you know, I was going to startbuilding a ship out back just in case.
Yeah, it wouldn't have been a bad idea.
My backyard. Literally. It is a swamp.
It holds water horribly.
So anyway, lots of rain here.
But yeah, sunshine today at least.
And we're happy for that.
And, glad to have you guys along.
(01:41):
So, Todd, we we had a week off.
You had some vacation time.
I was getting my nerd on at, the DaytonHamvention, last.
Oh, the Mecca, oh Craig, of.
Okay, so.
Yeah. Fill us in here. What?
I, I mean, I, I did not see the signal.
I was in Florida, and I looked upand maybe it traveled that far.
(02:01):
Maybe I didn't know to look for it,but what what conspired?
What can just a lot of nerdiness,a bunch of amateur radio operators
from all over the world.
Probably 30,000plus people there, in Xenia,
Ohio, used to be in Dayton, but,yeah, just lots of fun nerd stuff.
It's my yearly Mecca.
they've exiled you to Xenia.
(02:23):
See you there. All right.
Well, it used to be.
It used to be held in the Hera Arenain Dayton, Ohio.
Actually, yes, it was Trotwood, butthat place was literally falling apart.
Got hit by a tornado at least twice,I think.
And it just they literally demolished.
It's just a big empty lot now.
So they had to find a new place for it.
(02:44):
It's now the county fairgrounds,you know, in Xenia, Ohio.
Nice. nice.
Real quick.
Those of you on listening can't see this,but here was my my my large purchase.
You know that where you go,you might see that. Oh.
Do you have any idea what that is? Todd?
That is a
(03:05):
oh, it's Morse code.
It is.
Oh, my goodness, that is called, thoughthose are called iambic paddles.
It's a double paddle key for.
Yeah, for Morse code.
Wow. The new version is kind oflike the new Samsung or the new iPhone.
That's the new I wouldn't call those new.
That's those aren’t new.
I mean, it's new to me.
(03:26):
It's a new unit.
But yeah.
Anyway, okay, let's get back to it.
That was my nerd.
My nerd moment for the day.
Thank you for indulging.
If any of you are amateur radio operators,
I would love to work you on the airsomeday.
Yeah, okay.
We had we had a couple people.
Last time you announced that they met,we did. So.
Yeah. We did. Yeah.
Emails your batsignal and Craig will get a hold of you.
(03:48):
I will send me your callsign.
Well, well.
That's good. I'm sorry. Your call sign.
Here's the lingo.
We'll get a Q, so. Okay.
Those of you listening blank like blanklook on his face.
Wow. Okay. You know you know you do.
Well, let's get into the podcast
I got to get this this trail of this trainback on the rails.
(04:12):
Nobody's listening right now.
Okay, let's bring them back
Okay, so our topicthis week, actually a listener generated
question and, something we've talked aboutand it's been quite a while.
So I'm excited to answer this.
sent in a questionabout how to approach
brokerages and, gain some traction.
(04:32):
So the great topic,
And we're looking forwardto, to answering that.
But before we do, Todd, let's dive intowe just had a major,
major new, release and drop for Spiro.
Tell us a little bit about that.And then also what's coming up.
Yeah, we sure did. So some things.
So you all should have receivedan email from me with those updates.
(04:52):
Just want to give you the highlightsso that,
you know,when I'm putting this in your brain.
So more or lessyou can let your clients know
these are great thingsto pack into your newsletter coming up.
Y'all ask us a lot of time.
Like, hey,do you consistently do a newsletter?
Yes we do.
We have for many yearsand we see value in doing that.
So the first big thing isyou all have received
(05:14):
a beautiful refreshto the marketing content.
It's a complete revamp.
The old is gone and the new is inand it has
all of the goodies that you wantand have asked for.
So the biggest one is video reels.
That is in there, that is included.
There's four nice templatesfor us to begin with.
(05:34):
It's in there, and your clients can takethe beautiful listing photos
that you've createdand turn those into an MP4 reel
to have a sizzle and captureattention online.
The biggest thingand let your clients know this is that
the algorithm wants video.
So if they post video to a social channeljust naturally
(05:57):
and organically,that post is going to get more views.
Because social knows that viewers interactwith video more.
Thus it shows and to them moreso that they in
turn can make more money off of them.But it works.
So if you tell your clients
that sell the value,give them, become the expert.
That's a way to insert yourselfto be more sticky with your clients.
(06:20):
Now, the second thing that your clientsreceive as well.
And this is agent facing our propertyanalytics pages.
So we've created a beautiful pageto show the number of views for photos,
referral links, number of clicks
on the property websitesand that is available live in your system.
Also, your agents.
Or you can create a reoccurring weeklyemail that goes out to the homeowners
(06:45):
that tells them and gives themthe report, shows them the updates.
So those are cool.
Yeah, those are two great agent cells.
It's a great time to put it out to youragents to show how you bring more value,
and how they can benefit their clients
from the content inside of your system.
(07:05):
That's excellent,because anything an agent can do
to make differentiate themselvesfrom another realtor,
maybe they're in a competitive situationthat's that goes to build their business
and their brand.
So this is a great tool
for you to also differentiate yourselffrom other photographers
that maybe aren't positioning themselvesas marketing consultants.
(07:25):
You are.
It's all abouthelping them build their brand.
Yeah.
And Craig,one important thing you said there is that
it's a way that you,
the way that you market them the content.
So it's a little bit different.
The fact you might say, well,
competitors around me, they use Spiroand they have the same thing.
And I hear this from, from many of youand like, hey, my, I used to have
(07:49):
I started using Spiro three years agoand it was different for me.
And now my competitors have it.
Well, the thing is, is do your competitorsactually market it?
Do they tell what's the communication?
We're going to talk aboutcommunicating to a broker.
And we all can try to do it.
Why are we successful?
Wow. And why have we done it for 20 years?
(08:09):
What'sbecause we know how to communicate it.
We're consistent with it.
So we're going to help youwith those things.
But the big thing is, is don't say,hey, I'm
I'm not going to send out the newsletterbecause all my competitors use it.
No, that is even more of a reason.
You just market it better, right?
And let your agents knowing yoube the source of the knowledge.
And that keeps your client sticky to you.
(08:33):
Yeah, yeah.
If you can provide educationto your clients on how
to get the most out of the delivery systemthat you're giving them,
that's just going to
cement you intheir brains is a real value.
Add an asset to their team,
and that's the way you want themto see you as part of their team.
Not a contractor, not a photographer.
(08:55):
You are part of their marketing team
and helping them build their individualreal estate business.
That's that's the approach I try and take.
And and it's it's paid off, you know.
So anyway, yeah good stuff.
Great updates to those.Those are super exciting. Yeah.
Go ahead.
One more I wanted to mentionjust on a very quickly because it's, it's
and there was more updates.
There was nine of themthat went out in the email.
(09:17):
The other onethat many of you asked for is, hey,
can you notify my editorswhen the files are uploaded?
Not when I complete the job in the portal.
And you now have that option.
So just want to mention it because I
many of you wanted thatand we want to give it to you.
And it's in there.
Perfect.
Sounds good. All right. Huge release.
We were really excited to let this one outinto the, into the wild here.
(09:41):
What's what's, what's coming up?
For the next, the next release. Todd.
Yeah, so we
have some exciting thingscoming up for the next release.
We have well, I guess you asked.
I was I was just going to give aso some things with release.
I mean, we're we're about 6 to 8 weeksaway from the next release,
but I'll give you a little bit.You guys are all great, too.
(10:03):
So let me give you a little insightas to what we're doing.
We are working on first off,a new property website.
It's designed, it's done.
We are coding it in the background.
So it's a beautiful design.
It's going to give you some newfunctionality on the property website.
Not going to tell you what that is yetbut some new functionality on there.
AgainI'm trying to beef up your newsletter.
I'm trying to beef up your featuresand benefits that you give to agents.
(10:27):
These are all things,
and every age is looking for somethinga little bit different.
A lot of them have property websites,but for those that don't,
they're going to love this new design.
So that's whatwe're always thinking about with updates.
I'll give you one more, Craig,and then we'll,
we'll save the rest for a future update.
But and this is a biggieand we're excited about it.
(10:47):
And many of you have asked for it,
but we're going to give youthose admin options on the order page.
And you've asked for so many of you say,hey, when I place an order,
I just want to override the priceon the order page.
I just want to override the dateand time on the order page.
You can do thatnow. It's a two step process.
(11:07):
I know I value your guys's time.
I know how important it isto really focus on your time.
This will minimizethe time needed to do a couple
different actionswill compile compiled on the one.
So those admin overridesfor the order page.
Those will be coming as well.Okay, perfect.
Good stuff.
And just a little bit of a teaser.
Keep you coming back, right?
(11:28):
Yeah. A twist in my arm, Craig.
There you go. There you go.
All righty.
Well, thank you for those updates.
Todd. Exciting stuff.
And, we're just going to dive into thisweek's topic,
approaching brokerages,which can always be a challenge,
especially if you're somewhat introvertedor you're just nervous about getting out
(11:48):
there and showing up at, the frontdesk of a brokerage office or or whatever.
But, wrote in, and Todd, you wantyou want to introduce this one,
So asked me, on on Facebook,he said,
wherever the market slows down,I wonder how you reach out to brokerages.
I tried reaching out a fewand the response is not great.
(12:11):
I'm workinghard on my content to make sure
my content stands out,and I also get many referrals.
So he wanted to know a as to the approach
he can take to get to the broker deals.
Now we talk about broker deals a lot.
In fact, when we launched this podcastyears ago, the first thing we talked about
(12:33):
and I probably it's probably thethe number one talk that I do
and it's it's actually maybe a little bitdeceiving that I talk about it so much.
And I want to explain thatbecause it's, it's not that
it's not possible,but it's the big it's the whale.
Okay.
So I've been I've been listeninga lot to Alex Hormozi lately.
(12:53):
And he talks.
He has this Minoan whaleand he uses this this terminology.
And any time you try to get a whale,it's just going to take time.
Looking back over the course of Wow,
some of the broker dealsthat we have took years,
(13:14):
years and years to get.
Okay.
And we have a strategic waythat we work broker deals.
And I'm happyto share that with you today.
But I wanted to make surethat I communicate to you that this is not
something that you're going to time blockfor a month, and you're going to get one.
Now. It can happen, and it does happen.
(13:35):
There's a couple that fell into my lap.
There's a couple that I signedbecause I signed a competitor,
and I leveraged the competitor offof the first broker deal.
So we'll go into all of that.
But I at least want you to understand
that if you're saying, hey, Todd,I've been trying this for 90 days.
I've been trying this for 365 days.
(13:56):
That's okay. That's this.
This is a slow burn,and it's a big payoff.
I think our longest is actuallyfour years, Craig.
Literally four years with a company.
And it took a lot of timeand it was a very big deal.
So I just wanted to start thereto give you guys a perspective.
I'm always trying to
(14:16):
give you guys that perspective,because I think there's so much pressure
out there in the world
and if you look at us with Wow,you might go, how do you do 13,000 a year?
Well, I did 13 a thousand a yearbecause it's been 21 years.
And honestly, I'm
a little bit of an underachieverbecause it took me 21 years to get to 13.
Why am I not doing 30,000?
Okay, so it's all perspective.
(14:37):
You know, Craig,we had Simon on a few weeks ago and he
he gave a book titled The Gap.
And the gain,I believe, is what it's called.
And so I download I was like,that's very interesting.
And the author goes to talk about the ideaof, do you live in the gap
or do you live in the gain?
And without going into the whole bookand I just got through
like two thirds of the book,but the idea is
(15:00):
living in the gap is you saying,I don't have a broker deal.
Okay, so where you're at today versuswhere you want
to go, that portion is the gap.
The thing that you're forgettingwhat our brains do
is the portion below thatwhere you started versus where you are
today, that is what the author refersto as what you have gained.
(15:23):
You have gained that,
and you've all gained something.
Okay.
But what our brains don't like to do is
our brains don't like to wait,and our brains don't like to remember that
we want instant gratificationand we always want to move the goalpost.
That's super unhealthy to do.
I since reading this book,
I have been trying to apply thatin every part of my life.
(15:45):
Any time I'm unhappy, I go, Todd,why are you unhappy?
What is so bad about your life so well?
and it for me, you know, like, okay,let me use an example.
Outside the industry, I'm a dad. Craig.
You're a dad,I coached basketball. You guys know this?
I spend a lot of time coaching basketball.
(16:07):
I'm at the very end ofAAU season, which the season begins
with middle school basketball.
I coach middle school basketball.
And then it goes into middle schools,you know,
practices trials the season all along.
The same time I'm coaching youthbasketball, two more teams.
So I have I arrange the league.I do all that coaching.
And then I go into once middleschool is done, I have you season.
(16:29):
That all goes a little bit longer
and then once I'm out of youth season,I do school tournament teams
and then once I'm out of school tournamentteams, I do AAU basketball.
So I'm at the very end of basketball
and quite frankly,I'm ready to be done with basketball.
But I'm going, wait a minute, Todd,why do you have this thinking?
(16:49):
Okay, my oldest is 12, almost 13.
And Craig, we're startingto see that transition to a teenager.
You know what I'm talking about.
Or it's like,wait a minute, this is my shot, little.
Yeah. I'll be in prayer for you. Yes.
Thank you, Craig. Thank you.
So. Yes, it's.
(17:10):
And that's what we're saying.
I have the sweetest 12 year old right now.
And he is eloquentand speaking and he's caring.
But there are some thingsit says where it's like.
Like I think his mom's gonna reach acrossand just slapping
things and, I'm like, just do it.
Just go like it would really shocking.
But there's some.
But my point is like,there's some things. It's like,
wait a minute, that wasn't a sweetlittle five year old we used to have.
(17:32):
And overall he's a great kid.
I loving the mom, all my kids.
But my point is, is I am.
There's going to be a point in my lifewhere I would die to go back to
getting our butt kicked,getting our butts kicked at AAU
basketball in May of 2025.
so when we're going through thatand I'm frustrated
(17:55):
and he's frustrated and we're growingand we're losing basketball games,
I don't like to lose y'all.
I'm a pretty competitive person.
Now I go, what?
Yeah, me Craig right. Oh.
I am saying to myself, Todd,why are you living in the gap,
the gap of winning these games,the gap of being done.
The gap of having free time?
(18:16):
No, you don't want that living the gain.
Look at howfar he's gotten with basketball.
Look at how far I've gotten with coaching.
I used to be a terrible coach.
When you start, you can't just, like,try to figure some things out.
So I am trying to live in the gamein every uncomfortable portion
that I exist inand just real quickly here.
And then we're goingto get to the podcast.
(18:36):
But I think this is so importantbecause your mindset as a business owner
is the singlemost thing that you can improve
that is going toget you where you want to go.
Let me say that one more time.
Your mindset and education of that mindset
is the single most important thing to you.
Reaching your goals as a business owner.
(19:00):
And if you can begin to live in the gainand not the gap,
that's going to put you in a spotwhere you need to go.
Craig I'm in James right nowand this will take give me 30s you all.
But in James he talks about suffering
and finding joy through suffering.
And I'm like, James,you are one crazy man.
(19:20):
Like, let me sit here in pain.
But it's so true.
And the people that he wrote toin that day, they were suffering
and nothing like what I feel like
I'm suffering now in 2025, in America.
But there is joy, and joy producesperseverance
that then turns into knowledgeand us understanding.
(19:41):
And I think that is so true.
And if you're not spiritual, if you don'tbelieve in God, there is many.
This is trueno matter what you think that through pain
you are going to learn.
Okay, I believe Les Brown said.
If in life, if you do what is easy,
life will be hard.
(20:04):
And then he said, alternatively,
if you do what is hard in life,it becomes easy.
Life becomes easy.
So I just want to leave youwith those thoughts.
If what you're doing is hard right now,you are growing, you are learning,
and you are paving the way for lifeto become easy.
(20:26):
Can I add one thing to that, please?
The mindset thing is justwhat has been sticking out to me.
And I think back to that bookthat you mentioned a long time ago
on on the podcast.
Soundtracks by yes.
John Acuff. Yes.
So what I've discovered,
(20:47):
I mean, I've rediscovered thisevery time it happens is I can get in a,
in a bad pattern of thinkingwhere I'm just, I'm down on myself.
I, I lose motivation, or I'mdealing with anxiety, things like that.
And you get this, this cat.
What vicious cycle of thinking.
I don't want to say catch 22, but,it's just keeps spiraling.
(21:11):
And when it spirals, it'susually when you're by yourself.
So now, not only is the mindset important,but whether you are isolated
or in a group that can surround you,that can help break that cycle
and speak something differentinto your mindset,
I think that's as important,as critically important
(21:32):
as just realizingthat you need to change your mindset.
You've got to have a positive communityof people around you that will challenge
that cycle of thinkingthat you're stuck in and that that's that.
I mean, that's what I deal with, isI can get in a bad cycle of thinking,
but I find like, say, sayI'm having trouble with sales or I've lost
(21:53):
motivation to get out in an approachable,which is what Ramadi is, is.
Yeah.
Talking about I find like if I check inwith Chris, our sales manager,
it will help snap me out of that,because he will bring a perspective
that I'm not thinking about and not havingmy thoughts spiral, spiral or out.
(22:14):
So having Chris and Steve,who not only are my supervisors,
my managers, but also friends because
they just have a good wayof dealing with me,
as is an employee of Wow,where we can laugh about some stuff.
And yes, there's there's goalsand challenges and and accountability,
but they're friends as wellthat I trust them
(22:34):
to speak good things into my life,to keep me motivated.
Get me out of that cycle of thinking,because I'm I'm up here in in bowling
Green, Ohio, working out of my homeoffice, you know, managing my territory.
Yeah.
Chris is down in Columbus,you know, our home offices in Lima.
Steve is down there in Lima.
So I don't get to interactface to face with these guys.
And that can be isolating.
(22:54):
And you might as an owner, a lot of timesI think owners can be isolated
because for surethere's it's lonely at the top sometimes.
So if you can make a concerted effortto find a community of people,
and hopefully this podcast can be part ofthat for you to help you get out of that.
That vicious cycle of of thinkingthat maybe is holding
(23:15):
you backfrom what your goals are in your business.
I think you'll finda lot of value in that.
But you got to be purposefulin finding those people that will speak
life into your life.
Craig, thank you for sharing.
That couldn't be any more true.
And, that put that as your top priority
if you're struggling with that right now,if you don't have that, please put that.
(23:36):
Also, another thing is,
if you have some people in your lifethat sends you down the wrong path,
you need to get them out of your life,get them out today.
You just need to. Yeah,
yeah.
You got you got to set boundariesand choose who's
going to add value to your lifeand who's who's going to drain it.
Yeah. So it's thanks for sharing Craig.
Yeah yeah for sure.
(23:56):
Yeah.
All right.
So.
Craig going out for brokerages.
Yeah yeah brokerages.
So questionand many of your questions as well. So
Let me just take you through a timelineof how
I signedsome of the brokerage deals that we have.
Now, I got out of college,and I basically created
(24:17):
this idea of a brokerage dealbecause I wanted a guaranteed income.
And the way that I did it 20 years
ago is not the way that we do ittoday. So.
But the I, the ideaand the thinking is the same. So I
had been
photography, I had been shootingphotography, I did.
(24:39):
My my English is not English today.
I have been shooting I've been shooting
for a client, my hometown. Yeah.
Thank you.
Just it's a bumper stickerphotographing.
I might have to make a bumpersticker. Yes.
Hey. We're just.
(24:59):
If we can't find the right term,we're going to make up our own.
Darn it.
And you're going.
Hey, we have vidtographers, right?
Yeah. Vidtographers.
Yeah, yeah, that's what we do in Ohio.
We just make up terms.
Ohio
anyway.
Okay, so I have been working withthe same client for a couple of years,
(25:20):
and a lot of the agents used meand I had built relationships with them.
They knew me.
I knew them,I was familiar with the broker.
Okay.
So she was she knew me because I was usingso many of so many of their agents
were using me to do videosthat just naturally, I got to know her.
And then, so first thing is,I built a relationship with them,
(25:43):
and I was I had their top agents.
So the keys to getting to a broker dealergoing to be building a relationship.
But honestly, building a relationship
with the topor the most influential agents,
and those are typically the same,but they're not always the same people.
Right?
(26:04):
There's been sometimes where we've walked into a meeting
and we've had the topagent at the company,
and the top agent gives us an endorsement
and nobody really turns a head.
And then you have the most influentialagent who's not the top agent.
Say something.
Everybody goes, oh, wait a minute,they're using you.
(26:24):
Okay, so that's the thing.
You have to make sure you knowwho holds the voice in the office.
The way that you do this isif you honestly just go to one office
meeting, you can get an idea ofwho is the most vocal.
Okay.
So in that environment, they're typicallythe people that speak the most,
you know, give the most suggestions,criticism and, you know,
(26:45):
whatever it may be, but they're the mostvocal in the office meeting.
So at for my first brokerage deal,
I had these people, you know,I had the most influential in the largest.
And I began to build a relationshipwith the broker.
So at that point, when I asked fora meeting with the broker, I received it.
(27:05):
Okay.
And now I think that's thethat's the hill, right?
Craig, to get over is a lot of us aresaying, hey, how do I get to the broker?
Okay, so that one just took timeand it's going to take time.
So if you don't have the most influentialor the largest, go get those,
find out who they are, give them an offerso good they can't say no to that.
(27:25):
You begin working with themand then they will get you to the broker.
If you say, hey, how?
How are you going to gethow are they going to get me the broker?
Just ask them if it's all right. Craig.
I mean, I've been direct.
I think back so many times
over the past 20 yearswhere I didn't ask anybody
because I was afraid to get my feelingshurt.
(27:48):
So, Craig, you and I,we don't like to get our feeling
we're both the same in that way.
Like we each of us don't like.I don't like my feelings hurt.
You don't like your feelings hurtlike I'd be like, oh, man.
Like I'd be a sad puppywhen I got rejected.
Yeah,I think though, the older I've gotten,
the morethe less I've been afraid to get the no.
Because I finally found somethingI enjoy doing.
(28:11):
I know the value in it,whether somebody sees the value or not.
And so yeah, I might get a noand that might be a good thing, you know,
it might be a problem
or challenging client that would takea lot of your time and energy.
So you just you love what you do, you knowthe value of what you're offering.
And you just be confident in that.
(28:33):
Therewas something I was going to say, Todd
and now I just totally blanked out,but it was piggybacking on something
you had just said. It'll come back to me.
One thing that you said that sometimes
you have to get through the no’sto get to the yeses.
Yeah, I know that's a very cliche salesterm, but let me break that down slightly.
If there is a gap between youand you getting that you now and you
(28:55):
getting the sale, getting the brokereddeal, you have to know what that gap is.
And if you don't get a no and don't askthen how you could have
earned the business, what you could dodifferently, what might work for them.
You have to ask questions.
I was on a coaching call, yesterday.
And an individual. I know him well.
(29:16):
He wouldn't mind that we mentioned himon the podcast, but Todd McKissick,
he said, hey, the more I listen to youand you and Eli
realizethat you guys ask a lot of questions
and I'm going to start doing that.
I'm going to build that into everythingI do.
And I did not do that for many yearsbecause I had an
ego and I believed I had all the answers.
(29:38):
It was a very stupid thingthat really restricted us
growing is thatI thought I had all the answers,
and then I became the sourcefor getting the answers.
And then nobody wanted to do anythingbecause they needed Todd's answer.
And I did not empower themto come up with their own answer.
I became the bottleneck.
Okay.
(29:59):
And if you find that youare the bottleneck or you're the source
of information,your company's only going to grow so big
before you get out of your own wayand you empower others.
So the idea of asking questionswith the brokers,
if you get with the broker or say,say you ask that influential question
and that influential agent,excuse me for a meeting
(30:22):
with the broker and say they say no.
Okay, so this is a learning opportunity.
I would say, hey, Mr. and Mrs.
Influential Agent,could you let me know what it would do to
what I could do to earn your trustthat you refer me to the broker
I have an idea that I think can benefityou and them,
and I just want to know howI can earn your trust for that referral.
(30:43):
I don't take that referral lightly.
What could I do to earn your trust?
Yeah,
I the thing I forgot thatI just came back.
It's it's a very simple concept.
It's from scripture,but it's universally applicable.
You have not because you ask that,
(31:05):
That's simple.
Yeah.
You don't ask. You'reyou're never going to get it.
And yeah, you might get the no,but you might get the yes.
And asking the questions, you know.
Yeah.
How can I earn your trust or what.
You know, Mr.
or Mrs.. Agent, let me ask you this.
(31:25):
What is your brokerage'sgoal in marketing?
You know what? What is it?What's the money?
What's something that you've been lookingfor in a vendor to help you with this,
that you have not found yet,
and maybe you don't offer whatever it isthat they give you the answer to,
but that will spur an idea for you tothen develop that idea or develop
(31:46):
that solution that you canthen come back and say, hey,
I you know, I've listened to what you hadto say about what your goal is,
and I've done some brainstorming
and I think I have some, some ideasthat I'd like to run past.
You run it past that realtor
and say, just, you know,is this something that might be of value?
Is this somethingwe can talk to the broker about?
(32:09):
Ask the
question, get get what it isthat they're looking for
that maybe you don't currently provide,but something that you could do.
Yeah.
That's such a great insight.
That's such great insight
there, Craig, as to how to get thereand just ask the question.
Yeah.
You know,I think one of the things in sales
and I screwed up on this as many timesI would go into these presentations
(32:33):
and you're always a little nervous, right?
You know, you're always a little nervous.
I still I meet with one of our clientsat Wow to just one,
and it's our largest client.
And it's a relationshipthat I've had for over a decade.
So I'm still the key personon this account,
and I it's one meeting a year,but every time I go in and meet with him,
I'm a bit nervous toI actually know him really well.
(32:57):
Like I have a friend relationshipwith him.
Like it's a friendly environment,but I'm nervous when I go in there.
Todd, can I ask why?Why are you nervous?
If you have the friend relationship
and you've had thatlong of a relationship, what?
What makes you nervous?If you don't mind sharing?
He's a very intelligent individual
and I use this sayingthat a coach gave to me is
(33:19):
even when the Lions out to play,
the lion can always bite your head off.
Yeah, I suppose that's true.
So I, you know, I,I go in prepared because I respect him
and I know that I'm going to look stupidif I don't go in prepared.
So so going it you're going innot taking that friendship for granted.
(33:42):
Yes. Is what's sticking out to me on that.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
Because I respect him,I respect his time, I respect what
he's done for us for the last 11 years.
And honestly Craig,he comes in in the same way.
Now he's not he's not nervous for it.
But he respects the relationship.
He referred us to a huge clientabout a year ago for a few months.
(34:05):
I would have never had this in my Rolodex,
and this is a person that he isvery familiar with.
It's another very large brokerin this in this company.
And I had earned that.
And I began to seethe fruits of that harvest.
You know, that's we're not on know
about referrals today, but that is a wayyou're going to get to to the broker.
(34:27):
But at some point when you plant your seedand you nurture it, the crop grows.
If you don't harvest the crop,the crop is going to die.
Okay.
So let me bring thatinto the terms of this relationship.
Now, the relationship won't dieif I don't ask
for a referral,but the thing is, is I am leaving.
(34:50):
I am wasting crop, if you will.
If I don't ask for the referral
again, the worst you could say is no.
So I think you have to ask.
I think you have to get into the habitof feeling that rejection.
It becomes easier.
Trust me,if Craig and I can do it, you can do it.
(35:10):
I'm the person that would dial the phonenumber and I would hang it up ten times.
I'd pace my office.
I would go throughwhat I was going to say.
I dial the number, hang it up again.
So you can do it.
That's the biggest thing.
Okay, Craig.
So to get back to let's break downsome of this question from
(35:31):
he says in his question.
can you give me an approach
or what are some approachesI can take to enter into a brokerage?
So what are some things that that you do,Craig, to get into those relationships?
Well, I mean, it's all based offwhat you already mentioned about having,
(35:51):
you know, as a client,the most influential or a top agent
at that brokerageand having a good relationship with them.
Every brokerage will have a weeklyor at the very least,
a monthly meeting of some sort, where offmost times they have a vendor
come in and give a presentation,and I ask that top agent
(36:12):
or influential agentif there was a way to come
and be a presenterat one of their meetings,
and if they're a fan of what it isthat you're doing for them, that they'll
99% of the time they'll say yes.
So when you're able tothen make that presentation, maybe you
you still haven't talked to the broker,
but you're a you're able to come inand make that presentation.
(36:35):
You start to show up on the radar.
It might again,it's just going to take time to build.
What's what's the word I'm looking for?
Rapport.
Rapport? Familiar?
I can never say that word.
They're getting.
Just make one up.
That's what we're going. Familiarity
(36:55):
And I think I used to be in broadcastradio.
Yeah.
Just getting people familiarwith you and leadership familiar with you,
where you can start to show your value.
And what separates you, what distinguishesyou from other people in the same space?
People buy from people they know.
So there's the, the rapport part.
(37:16):
They, they know they likeyou got to be personable.
I a lot of times, Todd,when I, when I give a presentation,
I don't start with informationabout the company.
I start information about myselfand my family
because my familyis really important to me.
So I've got a picture of myself,my wife and my two boys.
And you know how long I've been married?
(37:37):
How old my kids are.
That makes me human right off the bat.
Okay, we're humans first.
We all have, you know, familiesor loved ones or interests or hobbies.
Things that make us who we are. Right?
And and I list some of my hobbiesand I my background being radio.
I crack a joke about, hey,you know, if my voice cracks
(38:00):
or I get a little nervous, it'sbecause I spent 20 years working in radio,
talking into a microphonein an empty room to a blank wall.
So if you don't mind, I'm just goingto turn around this way and that's that.
That usually, you know,so just breaking the ice.
I'm not a naturally funny person.
I'm really not.
That's a good one, Craig. But.
(38:21):
Well, it's it's me.
You know, my background is my radio.
So I'm
trying to get them familiar with meand that.
Okay, I'm not a threat.
I'm not a slimy salesperson just here,you know, to try and sell you.
But I love what I do.
So rapport building,being you don't try and put on an air
that's not authentic to who you are.
(38:44):
So presentationsasking that influential or top agent
that is currently your client,if there's an opportunity to come present,
that builds rapport,that gets you familiar with the broker.
So there's one way,
So approach number two, a lot of timesbrokerages will have special events
that they, they do throughout the year,and they're looking for sponsors.
(39:07):
Now, Ibeing a fiscally conservative person,
other than when it comes to ham radio,which I seem to have an issue with,
Sounds like a confession,I don't like to spend money.
All right.
But I learnedwhen I got into this business,
you have to spend money to make money,right?
Yeah, it was a confesion.
(39:28):
I didn't I didn't tell Gail
how much I spent on the morse code key,but if she asks, I will tell her.
But she didn't ask anyway.
You know a long time ago.
They threw millions of those away, Craig.
When?
When they.
When they did away with that technology.
You know what's funny about that?
Old hamradios are literally called boat anchors
(39:51):
because they were big and heavy.
You might as well just chuck them up.
They're also the words anyway.
You got to spend money to make money.
Not in the amateur radio hobby.
It's just spending money. But,
sponsor an event, a brokerage event.
Be at those events.
Todd, I've got a brokerage up here
(40:12):
in Toledothat we are not the preferred vendor.
Okay,
the one of the three brokershas a personal friendship
with the preferred vendorthat is out of a different state.
But we do more business with themfrom what I can tell.
Based on what some of the agentsthat use us have have told me, we sponsor
(40:33):
their Cinco de Mayo event every year, eventhough we're not the preferred vendor.
And it's because we do a lot of business
with this company, even thoughwe're not the preferred vendor.
And because we support what they're tryingto do as a brokerage and raising funds
for the Children's Miracle Network, it'sa good, worthy cause.
It gets our logo and our name and showsthat we're still a part of this brokerage.
(40:54):
We're still
bringing value to this brokerage,even if we're not the preferred vendor.
And it allows me to have face time
at that fundraising event as welland continue to build those relationships.
And we've gotten referrals from agentsthat use us, and business has been built.
I'm kind of I'm goingto brag a little bit, if that's okay.
(41:14):
Todd, please.
We we did a higher level sponsorshipthan the preferred vendor did for this,
this event.
Our our packages that we gave tothe silent
auction was worth moreand was a larger donation.
We're going to do everything we can
to support that brokerageto show our value.
(41:35):
I show up consistently that that broker
that has the friendshipwith this other vendor.
She spoke with me, said, hey,thank you so much.
You know,we really appreciate your support.
And I know you bring a lot of valueto many of our, our realtors.
And it wasit was a great cordial conversation.
So even if you're notthe preferred vendor, you can still have
(41:55):
a major relationshipwith that broker and that brokerage
and, and
bring value to what they're doingand grow your business at the same time.
So I've got the broker knows me.
They know that we're working hardfor their agents and they respect that.
They they're appreciative of the factthat we sponsor their event.
(42:15):
So presentations, brokerage presentationsand sponsor
their events,you know, assuming it's in your budget.
Yeah. Those are great things.
That reminds me of of a phrase, ofof a coach that I work with.
I'm on a coaching call weekly with him,Austin Cheviron and I have a run down here.
He says if you want to earn more,
you need to be more valuable.
(42:39):
I if you want the referral,you need to be more valuable.
If you ask for the referral and you didand you don't get it,
you need to give more.
You tried to take pennies out of the jar,
and when you didn't put enoughpennies in.
And that's what a relationship is.
That's what business is about.
It's not aboutyou being the most professional.
(43:00):
One thing you saying here,and I'm gonna say this with love.
As you say, you're working onmaking your content stand out.
It's not about making your contentstand out.
You just need to put more penniesin the jar before you take pennies out.
And once you have enough in the jar,you can ask for it.
And you've earned that trust.
You've put in the time, you've givenmore value, and you will get it back out.
(43:22):
Another listener had,
messaged me and said, hey,I had this client
that I thought was a solid clientand they were not going to summarize us,
but they ended up using someone elsefor a major project,
and they were just kind of left flatfooted, like, what happened?
Why should I even bother to keep doingthis and try to build the relationship?
You know, people are people and sometimesthey're going to disappoint you.
(43:43):
And yeah, you might have put a lot of workinto the relationship.
I've had that happen where, you know,I thought I had a good, solid
relationship.
I follow up,I try to get the question as to the why.
What could I have done betterto keep your business?
You might get an answer, you might not.
And if you don't, well, it
people are peopleand we do let each other down.
(44:05):
We do disappoint each other now and then,
but you can't let that stop youfrom continuing to try.
And there are people that will valuethat relationship with you.
I've got agents that they have insidemarketing departments that they could use
and that their brokerageis pressuring them to use,
and they've told me straight to my face,I will never use our inside
marketing department.
You do what we need you to do.
(44:25):
We value the relationshipand we appreciate you and I.
I've got them.
I've got them for life. Now,I don't get cocky about that.
I don't take that for granted.I have to every day.
I have to continue to earn that trustand earn that loyalty
that they have to us as their vendor.
So don't give up.
Even if somebody kind of burnsyou don't don't let that sour you guys.
(44:49):
Yeah.
And the toughest thing about it is
I would advocate that you continueto give to them.
it's going to be the hardestthing is you see that
they use a competitorand you thought you had that relationship.
Just keep giving to that client.
it will come back.
It's taking the high road,you know, and the professional road.
(45:12):
So excellent.
Well, Todd I think that kind of covers it.
I, I'm not sure what else to say.
It does time.
It takes time to build relationshipsagain.
You get me 21 years in the businessand we have,
you know, a ton of brokerage dealsin these relationships.
But it took a long time.
(45:32):
The build these relationships andthe space is much more competitive too.
So it takes even longer to build a betterrelationship with someone you know.
I've got the relationshipwith this individual for 11 years.
Could someone build a better relationship?
Yes, they could.
It's going to take a little whileand I'm actively building it too.
You just need to continue to build plantto plant the seeds.
(45:55):
I love this harvest analogy.
You have to plant the seedsand you have to nurture them before you
can take the harvest.
There you go.
Good insight.
Thank you for the question.
I was an excellent question.
And that really gets to the gistof what this podcast is all about
is building a strong business.
So yeah, the creativityobviously important, but
(46:17):
that's ultimately notwhat's going to really
I mean, yes, you have to have a good solidcreative product and service,
but it's the sound businessprinciples and relationship
building that you're working onthat will help grow your business.
And that's what we want to help yousucceed in.
So guys, thank you for listening.
Todd,any closing thoughts or anything from you
(46:37):
now just keep buildthose relationships and get excited.
Good people.We covered so much of that. Craig.
Put good people around
you, people that are excited, peoplethat build you up and then go and do it.
It makes it a lot easier to
to get through those no'sand to build those relationships.
Yeah for sure.
All right.
Well guys, thank you so much. Ladies.
Gentlemen I don't want to just say, guys,ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much.
(46:58):
We appreciate the time you take, tolisten or,
you know, or watch this podcastif you found some value in it.
We'd love to, like,maybe share it with others
in the communitybecause we want to see you guys when
and, if you have any comments, pleaseleave a comment on the YouTube channel.
Or if you do have questions.
We haven't said that in a while.
If you have a business related question,that we could cover on the podcast,
(47:20):
we're we're open to your ideas andwould love to cover that, because, again,
we want to bring value to you and helpyou build your strong business.
All right.
That's going to wrap it up for the week.Thank you so much.
Make sure you take some timeto breathe this week.
I mean stay in thewhat is it like the gap or the the gain.
The gain.
Make sure yes.
You take some time to breathe,but stay in the gain
(47:42):
and be thankfulfor the blessings in your life.
Make sure you takea breath. Have a great week!
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